


Swinging and Signing

by Striding_Valkrie



Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018), Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27866337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Striding_Valkrie/pseuds/Striding_Valkrie
Summary: Miles Morales finds love in his neighbourhood, swinging and signing his way into a certain street artist’s heart. A slight ret-con to the ending of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Relationships: Hailey Cooper/Miles Morales
Comments: 15
Kudos: 32





	1. Sunflower

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Needless to say, I keep her in check

She was a bad-bad, nevertheless 

\- Sunflower, Post Malone

With a screech of the braking, the subway train slowed to a complete stop at 125th Street Station in Harlem and the doors swiftly opened up, Miles stepped off humming along to his latest favourite tune. Bopping his head as he weaved his way through the throngs of commuters stepping off or into the train, he quickly hopped up the stairs out to the busy street. 

“Calling it quits now, baby, I’m a wreck”, sang Miles as he did a little dance on the sidewalk as though in his own world, neither the honking of impatient taxi cabbies nor the everpresent hum of activity of New York could take him out of his vibing with the song. One thing though caught Miles’ eye, the mural of Spiderman across the street from the subway entrance suddenly had a new addition to it. 

That definitely caught his attention as Miles jogged across the street and towards the gated brick wall where the mural was painted, he pushed the headphones down his head where it rested on his collar and he gazed up adoringly at the painting. It was like staring at a reflection of his costumed self, the white lenses bordered by the bright red lines that made up the web-esque pattern on his mask. To Miles, it was just perfect. 

While Miles admired the wall mural, he failed to notice a certain frizzle haired brunette climbing down the ladder and scaffolding below the mural. Reaching out with a hand, Hailey tapped Miles on his shoulder, startling him out of his moment of appreciation. 

Hailey signed, “Hey! I’m glad you like the art! It’s about time Harlem had a Spiderman”

Still chuckling in surprise, Miles hesitantly brought up his hands to gesture back to Hailey, “It’s so awesome! How long did this take you, H-A-I-L-E-Y?” 

“A few weeks, especially with the blizzard and what happened at Roxxon Plaza”, replied Hailey as she shrugged off her small backpack to allow a greater range of motion while signing. 

She added, “You know, you don’t have to fingerspell H-A-I-L-E-Y. I could teach you the way I say it”

With the quick realization that he had been called out for fingerspelling, Miles reached up to rub his hand on his neck in embarrassment. He wasn’t just turning red because of the cold weather and his shyness, but he knew he was crushing a bit. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know how to do it, I’m not the best at ASL. But I can try!”, replied Miles as he tried to recover from his flustered state.

Giggling a bit at the sight of a bashful-looking Miles, Hailey signed back to him, “Don’t worry one bit, so my name sign uses the sign for spray paint and a Z over the heart, like this.” 

To demonstrate, Hailey held up both her hands towards Miles and made an X handshape accompanied by a Z-like motion over her heart as though she was painting with her hands. 

Watching her demonstrate the way she did her name sign, Miles tried his best to repeat the actions, first by nervously making an X with his hands and then drawing a Z over his own heart, swishing his hands reluctantly. It dawned on Miles that his half-heartedness could be seen as rudeness so he repeated the name sign, this time with a tad bit too much gusto.

Hailey giggled once more as she watched him tentatively sign her name sign a few more times, she enjoyed watching him put so much effort in getting it right. Eventually, she took pity on Miles, removed one of her gloves and placed her hand on his. Ignoring his shocked face, Hailey took his hand and made the artful Z gesture over his heart then looked up at him and just nodded, smiling.

Gently pulling his hand back, Miles blushed an incredible deep shade of red, perhaps enough to rival the ruby colour of the other Spiderman’s costume. In an attempt to recover his confidence, Miles signed back to Hailey, “Thank you, Hailey! I was gonna get there eventually, anyway what inspired you to paint two Spidermen?”

“Beyond what Spiderman has done for the community, I thought maybe it’s time to honour Our Spiderman.”, replied Hailey, it was not lost on her how deeply Miles blushed as she drew her hand back away from him, neither did she miss how much pride filled his eyes when she said “Our Spiderman”. 

Choking back his joy-filled tears, Miles gathered up his courage. If he faced down a Roxxon-powered super-Rhino and took down the Tinkerer, he could probably ask Hailey for a coffee, maybe. 

Hands trembling in a mix of anticipation and adrenaline, Miles asked, “Would you like to come and get coffee with me sometime?” 

Hailey smiled widely and nodded as she replied, “Of course! How does tomorrow afternoon sound? We can meet at Teo’s!”

Grinning with excitement, Miles was simultaneously surprised and overjoyed that Hailey had agreed, “Absolutely! I’ll meet you by the bodega at 1, should I, uhm, bring anything?”

“Yes, just the one thing, bring that scarf I gave you a few weeks ago, okay?”, signed Hailey as she bent to pick her backpack off the ground and shoulder it, waving at Miles, she climbed back up the ladder to finish up the newly painted mural. 

Waving back at Hailey, Miles turned heel to leave the area and as he stepped back onto the sidewalk, he could have sworn that he saw Hailey wink back at him.

Pacing forward with excitement, Miles pumped his fist in the air once he cleared the view of the mural, he felt a tiny bit of bioelectricity dance across his fist and he quickly lowered it before anyone noticed any orange sparks. Humming the tune of Sunflower, Miles continued to grin not just because the girl he was crushing on had just agreed to go out with him, but she taught him her name sign as well.

Reaching for his phone to call Ganke and tell him the great news, the realization hit him harder than Rhino ever did… how did Hailey know that he had her scarf? The very same scarf she wrapped around his neck after he saved her from those criminal goons, but as the Spiderman. 

“Oh god, I need to talk to Ganke!”, exclaimed Miles as the realization dawned on him. And off he ran towards the apartment.


	2. Where We Came From

A dream team, I done seen things, confidence is on a hundred thousand

I got family from miles runnin' up the mileage

Made it through some trials and some tribulations

Now me and the team out here celebratin'

\- Where We Come From, Lecrae

Running up the steps to his apartment, Miles was vibrating with excitement to call up Ganke and tell him about what happened with Hailey. Alas, after the events of the Roxxon Plaza explosion, Ganke had returned home because his parents felt that Harlem was just too dangerous, but on the bright side of things, they were preparing to launch Speed Nonagon. 

Pulling out his home key from his pocket, he heard muffled voices inside which piqued his interest, so as Miles turned the key in its lock and opened the door he allowed his Spidey-senses to go alert. The first thing he picked up was that his mom must’ve been home because he could hear her voice, the second detail that he caught was that she was definitely on the phone. 

“I understand, but you can’t just force yourself back into our lives because he and you bonded over punching people!”, exclaimed Rio, as she gripped the kitchen countertop with one hand and held her phone in the other. 

Miles quietly slipped through the doorway and willed himself to turn invisible in order to listen to what his mother was saying in the kitchen. He quietly thanked his past self for putting away all the Christmas decorations last week, because it would’ve been such a damn obstacle to camouflage himself amongst all the colourful decors. 

“Aaron, you know I appreciated everything you did for Miles and for us, especially with testifying against Roxxon. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re in prison and I am not going to take Miles to the RAFT to see you!”, shouted Rio as she continued to pace back and forth across the tiny kitchen. 

All Miles could do was grit his teeth in annoyance as he heard his mother berate his Uncle Aaron through the phone, he understood that his Uncle was in fact a criminal, but he had his merits like striving to help Miles as the Prowler and even helping put Krieger in jail. 

Unfortunately for Miles, he wasn’t nearly as quiet as he thought he was. 

“Hello? Miles? Is that you?”, called out Rio as she stepped out of the kitchen and looked out into the seemingly empty hallway.

Feeling the pressures of both his boiling anger and seeing his mother try to search for him, Miles gently started stepping back towards his room, thankfully the door was open and he was quickly able to turn visible behind the wall of his room. 

“¡Hola, mama!”, replied Miles as he took a step out of his bedroom’s doorway and waved at his mother.

“Ay, chico, how did you get in? I didn’t hear you come in.”, asked Rio once she saw him, with the phone still in her hand, she quickly glanced down and pressed the mute button. 

Quickly coming up with a plausible explanation, Miles responded, “Oh! I heard you were on the phone and I didn’t want to interrupt so I just walked straight to my room.”

There was a pregnant pause in the air before Rio nodded and said, “Alright hijo, dinner will be ready by 7, help me set the table later.”

With that, Rio turned on her heel and strolled back to the kitchen where she unmuted her phone and said, “Sorry Aaron, Miles just came in. Let’s talk another time okay? Stay safe in there.”

Back in Miles’ room, he grudgingly shut the door to his bedroom and sat on his desk chair in order to collect his thoughts before opening up his laptop to call Ganke. 

After a few rings on Skype, Ganke picked up and greeted Miles, “Hey dude! What’s up?”

“Hey Ganke, so much stuff is what’s up!”, replied Miles.

After a few minutes of Miles just non-stop explaining what happened in the past hour or so, Ganke sat back in his chair and simply sighed.

“You know Miles, you don’t realize how awesome your life is right now man. You’ve got Spidey powers, a date with a cute artistic girl who digs both versions of Miles, and honestly, I think you should just tell your mom that you appreciate what your Uncle Aaron did for you and maybe you’re willing to go talk to him.”, suggested Ganke as he took a Rubic’s cube off his desk and toyed with it as he watched Miles allow his words to sink in. 

“Damn, you’re right Ganke! Although there still is one question on my mind…”

“Lemme guess, how the heck did Hailey figure out the new Spidey is one and the same with you?”, asked Ganke.

“Yeah! Exactly that, I’m thinking maybe she remembered how I fingerspelled her name and I did the same as Miles and the Spiderman!”, theorized Miles as he leaned forward in his chair and thought back to his past conversations with Hailey.

“Not a bad theory at all, though… something you might not remember is after you fell at Roxxon Plaza, you didn’t have your mask on. Hailey was there, along with me, your mom and a few more of the neighbourhood guys. Look Miles, she clearly likes you and she is willing to keep that secret, I think you don’t have much to worry about.”, recommended Ganke as he flipped his way through the Rubic’s cube, trying his best to solve it. 

“Hmm, I guess so, oh well. I’ll let you know what happens tomorrow! Oh and let’s meet up this weekend to finalize the beats for the game?”, agreed Miles as he stood up from his chair and waved at Ganke, who was still engrossed with the Rubic’s Cube.

“Mmhm yeah yeah, see ya this weekend Miles.”

With that, Miles ended the Skype call and thought to himself, where was the last time he placed that white and black striped scarf that Hailey gave him. 

\----------------

Standing outside Teo’s Bodega was perhaps not the best idea considering how cold New York’s January could be, with the snow still falling heavily and the bitter bite of the infamous Manhattan winds breezing across the avenue, Miles stood waiting for Hailey to come to meet him. 

Miles fiddled with the scarf gifted to him by Hailey, wrapping it around one arm then swapping it over to the other. To a certain extent, Miles suspected Hailey would ask it back from him, almost as though she wanted it back because she didn’t give it Miles. No, she gave it to Spiderman. 

Before Miles could contemplate this thought further, he was startled by a light tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Hailey, brightly smiling at him as she said, “Hey Miles! I’m so happy you brought the scarf!”

“Hi Hailey, yeah I did… um did you want it back?”, asked Miles as he hesitantly offered up the scarf back to Hailey. 

Giggling a bit, Hailey shook her head and untucked her own scarf out of her winter coat, revealing a black and white striped scarf that mirrored the one she gave Miles. Signing back to him, “No, silly! I gave it to you and I’d like you to keep it, anyway I know when you are swinging it can keep you warm.” 

Hailey blushed and tucked a few strands of her frizzled hair back behind her ear as she mentioned swinging to Miles. Taking advantage of a still speechless Miles, she took the white scarf from his limp hands and swung it around his neck to tie. 

Patting the newly tied scarf back down to his chest, Hailey signed to Miles, “You look cute in it, keep it.”

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, the motion fogging up the air that was closely bordered by the two of them, Miles signed back, “Thank you, so much. So, um, where do you wanna go from here?”

Without signing a reply, Hailey enthusiastically took his hand and led him to an MTA subway map, traced her free hand down the D line where it stopped right at 42nd Street - Bryant Park. 

Letting go of his hand, Hailey asked, “How do you feel about ice skating?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Thank you to everyone that has read Swinging and Signing so far! I really hope that my story fills the niche for those of you out there that ship Miles and Hailey, I've decided to expand my story beyond the original plan of 3 chapters. Enjoy!


	3. This Is Our Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note:
> 
> Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone that has been extra-patient with me, I really thought I could post the third chapter in December 2020 (whilst doing university exam time and preparing for Christmas). Nontheless, thank you once again for reading my work and feel free to follow me on Tumblr at: https://stridingvalkrie.tumblr.com/

Keep it movin', that's my attitude

Lookin' back, I know they probably doubt me

Now the city on my back, I wear it proudly

I'm a hero in the makin'

\- This Is My Time, Lecrae

In hindsight, one might think that Spiderman would be just as graceful on ice as he was swinging through the urban jungle and sheer concrete cliffs of New York City. Alas, Miles appeared more like a baby giraffe taking its first steps as he stepped on to the Bryant Park ice skating rink along with Hailey. 

Miles gritted his teeth as he balanced his strength to ensure that he didn’t end up crushing the metal guide railing as he white-knuckled his way forward towards Hailey who was gracefully skating forward. Between his nervousness of embarrassing himself in front of Hailey and the irony of not being a graceful skater despite his side-gig, Miles was in for one heck of an afternoon.

“Miles, do you need help?” asked Hailey as she skated her way back towards Miles, her ability to sign was obviously not impeded by her need to hold the guide railing like Miles. 

Miles huffed as he continued to struggle to get the skates balanced beneath him, even more, to get himself stable enough to let go of the railing and sign back to Hailey.

He was surprised when a warm hand gently rested itself by his forearm and urged him to leave the safety of the railing, instead, lending its support to him. 

With one hand, Hailey gestured to Miles to follow her and with her other hand, she assisted Miles as he pushed off the walls of the ice skating rink and tried his best to wobble his way forward.

Miles silently thanked God that Peter wasn’t anywhere close by, otherwise, he’d be the butt of a whole lot of jokes. On the other hand, his face burned with a mix of blushing, embarrassment and nerves, he was sure that Hailey must’ve thought that he was pretty lame at that moment. 

As if reading his mind, Hailey lifted her supportive hand away to sign, “Miles, it’s alright! Not everyone is great at skating, I guess it’s good you have a teacher with you?”

Grinning in jest, Hailey pushed off and did a graceful twirl on the ice as she left Miles slack-jawed and watching her in admiration.

“Damn straight! I’ve got the prettiest girl here teaching me how to skate,” replied Miles as Hailey finished a few pirouettes on the ice and returned back to where he was standing.

Giggling in response to his flirty response, Hailey didn’t even hesitate to drop her hand and take his hand in her own to lead him forwards through the throngs of families, couples and other skaters that were enjoying the rink as they were.

After some time having Hailey lead him, Miles eventually overcame his fear of slipping and became confident enough to try skating without any help, well any non-spidey power help that is. With just the slightest hints of his spidey-strength, he tested his limits while simultaneously trying to impress Hailey with his own mini pirouettes and doing a few swizzles.

All the while, Hailey was whooping as she observed Miles affectionately but alas, time soon ran out on their ice skating adventure. 

Hand in hand, they skated together towards the exit and as they both sat down to remove the skates, Miles took the opportunity to tap Hailey’s shoulder and sign to her, “I’d love to do this again, maybe next time we could just get our own skates and go to Central Park instead?”

Hailey smirked a bit and replied with, “What makes you think we have a next time?”

Grinning right back at her, Miles didn’t let shock play out on his face, instead signing back, “well, I was hoping to ask you on a second date if this one goes really well.”

Setting her skates on the bench and slipping her boots back on, Hailey took his hand and pulled him up off his seat. She put a hand on his chest and signed with her free hand, “Smooth, just like the way you skate.”

Blushing furiously, Miles just ducked his head down into the striped scarf that Hailey gave him and placed a hand on her own, feeling the warmth that they shared through that connection.

Leaving the skates at the rental booth, they walked over to the Wafels and Dinges hut by the corner of the Bryant Park Winter Village and bought themselves a pair of fantastic hot chocolate drinks, churros and choco caramel dips. 

Miles realized he hadn’t been back to Bryant Park since his dad died, but he was incredibly thankful that here he was creating new memories with a girl he liked and well, more importantly, liked him back.

Sensing the melancholy that had draped itself around his shoulders, Hailey tapped him and signed, “you know Miles, I just realized that you don’t have a name sign! I’ve just been signing miles like the measurement.”

Miles shed the melancholy faster than a spider could spin a web and his eyes crinkled as he smiled widely and chuckled as he too realized that Hailey has just been signing miles all the time since meeting him.

“Any suggestions?”, replied Miles as he took a sip of the scalding hot chocolate.

Hailey munched away on a chocolate caramel covered churro as she pondered what name sign Miles could possibly adopt for himself. 

Before she knew it, there was a napkin beneath her chin held out by Miles’ outstretched hand as he caught the dripping sauce that was falling from her churro. 

Hailey blushed as she signed, “Thanks, sorry!”, with one hand and struggled to finish off the churro in her other hand. 

Miles smiled back, winked and replied with, “That’s what your friendly neighbourhood hero does, catches you when you fall.” 

Giggling as she finished the churro, Hailey was hit with a bout of inspiration as she reacted to Miles’ creative comeback. Wiping her fingers with a napkin, she shook her fingers a bit to loosen them from the chilliness of New York winter.

“How about M…”, then she sprawled her fingers out and crawled them up her other hand, exactly like the symbol for spiders in ASL.

Miles nodded and tried it out for himself, it felt quite intimate and almost too personal to use as a name sign used with anyone from the ASL-speaking community. 

Thinking about it for a bit, Miles suggested back to Hailey, “how about miles as my name sign and M-spider for just us?”

Hailey smiled brightly as she nodded excitedly and she clasped his hand in hers then leaned her head on his shoulder. Together, they watched the other skaters enjoy gliding across the ice.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading Swinging and Signing, I was inspired by the events of Spider-Man: Miles Morales after finishing the game and I wanted to bring to life my head-canon romance between Miles and Hailey. I have great respect for the ASL community and I will persevere to make this story as faithful a representation of their language, as I can. 
> 
> Please take a look at this fantastic article by the Los Angeles Times that discusses the cultural significance of Hailey Cooper and the game’s brilliant portrayal of ASL:
> 
> https://stridingvalkrie.tumblr.com/post/636995054280523777/meet-the-actress-blazing-a-sign-language-trail-in


End file.
